Criminal Angels
by Falling Closer To The Edge
Summary: For years, teenaged Ren has been running a group of highly trained thieves. But she is soon captured and taken to a school, to be trained as a spy. But Ren has a secret, and when it is known, who will she trust? Ties to Maximum Ride, NOT a crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Disclaimer of Doom: I don't own MR, The Gallagher girls, or Seventeen magazine. I also don't own **_**Thieves Like Us, **_**and **_**Thieves Till We Die, **_**the books I got this idea from.**

Ren dangled her feet over the porch's edge; a carefree teenage on a lazy summer afternoon. Of course, other than the radio transmitter in her ear, the .22 under the deck, and the bank blueprints tucked into her copy of _Seventeen, _she was normal_. _Stretching her arms, and yawning loudly, she stood and sauntered back inside. Closing the screen door, Ren bolted the locks, all four of them.

"Okay, now explain. What happened?" Holding her hand up to her ear, she pulled the tiny radio from it, and ran down a frame-filled hallway to what looked like a closet door. A fire alarm was built into the wall next to the door handle, and Ren pulled the cover away from the front. Keying in the pass code on the pad that had been unveiled, she waited until a series of metallic clicks echoed from inside the door before pushing it open.

Gone were the framed photos, the fake flowers and knitted coasters. In their places were state-of-the-art computers, stainless steel floors, and 3D graphic projectors. Ren grabbed the nearest speaker set, and, searching frantically for a nearby USB cord, plugged her tiny radio into it.

"There we go. Now, what happened? I only got half your message."

A burst of static, and a fuzzy voice came through the speakers. "Sorry. We're stuck in some kind of antechamber, past the third elevator. Can you bring up the blueprints? Fast. We've only got eight… no, seven minutes to get in and get out before Darra's virus dies out. Hey, I rhymed!"

"This is actually serious, Dylan, so if you could nix the jokes…wait…got it" Ren turned and pulled up a 3D image of a building from a nearby projector. "Good news. Are you still in that room?"

"Until the police show up and haul our sorry a-"

"Hey, hey hey, work with me. If you turn around and go through the door you came in through, there's another door that leads to the vault. Six minutes."

After another minute or two, Dylan's voice came through the speakers.

"We're in. Nick-"

"Fang. You know he hates Nick"

"Whatever. Fang is getting the painting now. Why, exactly, are we going through all this to extract a painting, when there are literally gold bars stacked a foot and a half from me?"

Ren sighed. "You know why, Dyl. We're stealing from a thief. He might have worked his behind off for those gold bars."

"Doubtful."

"We know for a fact he took the painting from that museum in Venezuela two months ago. Look, can we talk about this later? You have three minutes."

"'Kay. We'll be out in two, returned in forty-five."

"Good luck." Ren pulled a chair over from a computer, and plunked down in it, the copy of _Seventeen _in her hand. She didn't really care about _985 Ways to Look Hot this Summer! _It was just to pass the time.

Forty-seven minutes later, the front door opened, and Ren stood, calmly returning to the living room. In it were eleven teenagers, dusty and sweaty, carrying plastic grocery bags.

"How was it? Did you get it?"

A tall blond boy reached into a bag and pulled out a roll of wrapping paper. He tipped it upside down, and out slid a black tube, and from that, a piece of rolled-up canvas.

Ren snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, and unrolled the painting.

"Yep, this is it. Congrats. Meet me in the comp room in twenty for debriefing. Shower, grab a bite, do whatever."

Cue mad dash for one of the three bathrooms in the house. Still standing in the living room were two boys, the one that had unwrapped the painting, and another one dressed in black with long, dark hair.

"What went wrong? I could tell you sounded stressed, Dyl." Ren turned to the blond boy.

"Arty had another attack."

She sighed. "Again?"

Dylan nodded. "We can barely get her to go outside, let alone do her voodoo-hypnotism thing."

"She calls it _mesmerism._"

"Whatever. The last thing we need is for her to pull a Max on us." Fang winced as Dylan said this, the only emotion seen from him thus far.

Ren sighed, and scratched the back of her neck. Throughout most of her childhood, Ren and Max had been inseparable. Max had started their gang, with her as leader and Ren as her right-hand woman. After a few months of successful thievery, Max stormed off in the middle of a mission, blowing their cover and nearly killing them all. Since then, she hadn't been seen, and Ren had taken over the gang, with Dylan and Fang as her lieutenants.

A month after Max left, Ren did some confidential hacking and found that she was in an asylum, affected by a rare strain of schizophrenia. The rest of the gang had no idea.

"No matter. I'll speak to her after the debriefing."

Twenty minutes later, the group met in the computer room, ready for inspection.

"Okay, go." Ren folded her arms.

"We arrived at the bank at seven twenty five, and parked. JoJo left the van and entered the building, and pretended to stumble, hooking up his conductor to the underside of the camera. Eight minutes later, we distributed the "closed for repairs" signs -boy the tellers are dumb- and cleared out the bank. JoJo activated the conductor, effectively shutting off the cameras. We had Akiko and Mariko enter through the back entrance, where they dispatched the guards, and smuggled Vee into the security room" Dylan seemed to be the leader when reviewing missions.

"So, far so good."

"Yeah. So far."

Dylan continued, explaining the rest of their day. Apparently, Arty had been unable to hypnotize the rest of the guards, and the gang had been forced to hack into the system while holding off the others. Their lock-picking specialist Iggy was able to get access to the main vault, but not before being routed out to a different hallway. It went on and on, stupid blunders and pointless mistakes, until Ren raised her hand, shutting Dylan off.

"I can't stand this. Bottom line, did you all get out alive and with the painting?"

"Obviously," scoffed a short girl in the back with a black pixie-cut.

"Shut it, Helen." Another boy turned around and glared at her.

"You shut your face, you motherf-"

"Stop. Please. Let's just go to bed, sleep it off, and tomorrow we'll seal the transaction, and be done with it." Ren reached back and pulled apart her messy bun, revealing wavy brown hair. "Hold on a second…" She stepped over to a curtained window and peeked out under the screen. "I thought you said you got out unseen."

"We did!"

"Oh, yeah?" Ren stepped aside and ripped the curtains away, revealing three armored trucks, two SWAT teams, a helicopter, and good twenty-five police cars.

"Close the blinds!" Fang jumped at the window, but refrained himself when Ren assured him that the windows were one-way only.

"Okay everyone, you know the drill. You four, start deleting. You, you, and you, start up the chopper; get our emergency bags. Us three will start the distractions. And you two, start booting up the basement power surges. Let's get this done."

"Wait a second, where's Arty?"

"There! Outside!"

Ren whirled back around, and sure enough, a girl with long silvery hair was walking towards the policemen, arms outstretched, palms up. She turned her head back towards the window and mouthed to them _I can still do it. Watch me. _

"No, no, no, no, no! This is not happening. If she couldn't do it then, she can't do it now!" Abandoning all sense of decorum, Ren ran through the hallway, Fang and Dylan on her heels.

Bursting through the door, Ren started sprinting towards Arty, totally unaware of the policemen, armed with tasers, surrounding her.

Grabbing Arty's shoulders, she shook her roughly, saying "Run, damn you, run!" and pushed her away, back towards the house. Terrified, the girl ran back towards the house, tripping and stumbling into Dylan's arms, who promptly dropped her at his feet. The gang stared in stunned silence as the policemen tasered Ren one, two, three times.

As Ren held on to consciousness by her fingertips, Fang and Dylan ran to her, not caring that the policemen were prepping their tasers for another round.

"Get out of here, Max. Take the gang, get back to the safe house. Sorry about this, Max. Sorry, sorry, sorry."

"It's us, Ren. Dylan, Fang. Wake up!" It was pointless, though. She slumped in Fang's arms. He set her on the ground, and whispered "We'll get you back, Ren. Promise," then turned and ran to their backyard, a very black and very illegal helicopter waiting for their last two passengers to board.

The last thing they saw as their helicopter ascended into the clouds was a swarm of men loading a small body into an armored car, black dots taking the utmost care for their precious cargo.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Yeah, this chapter is a bit of a filler, but it's still important.**

**In the summary, I said it has ties to Maximum Ride, but isn't a crossover. That means this story will still make sense even if you haven't read MR. Just FYI.**

**Disclaimer: I will never own MR, Gallagher Girls, anything. Depressing…**

She awoke in an interrogator's room, alone with two chairs and a metal table. After a few seconds, Ren remembered where she was, and the events of the previous day.

Instead of sitting and bemoaning her fate, she straightened and begun to put into effect what she had been taught.

_Observe. _She was alone, no weapons, in unfamiliar territory. Assumedly in the hands of the enemy, AKA the police or government.

_List assets and enemy assets. _Ren had friends who could bail her out if needed. Martial arts training and some beginner mesmerism were under her belt, too. Beginner lock picking and hacking were her only other assets unknown to her captors. Most importantly, she probably had whatever information they needed.

They, though, had the upper hand. They may possibly have more of the gang. Weapons, transportation, herself locked up in a room. Definitely other unknown skills, too.

_How to make their assets yours. _The answer? No idea.

Ren's train of thought shut down, though when a tall man carrying a polygraph entered the room. He proceeded to set it down on the table, and calmly set a sticky patch on the underside of her wrist. This was going to be fun.

"Is the name you are commonly known by Ren?" The man spoke agonizingly slowly.

"Nope"

"What is the name you are known by?"

"Mary Todd Lincoln"

The man with the polygraph gulped. Ren grinned. It took her a year, but she was now able to fool any polygraph perfectly. Handy skill.

"My turn. Where am I?"

"A secure location"

"Thanks. That helps a lot. Who are you and who are you working for?"

"She will be in shortly. Until then, let us continue."

It went on for about an hour. The man with the polygraph grew more and more frustrated, until a tall woman entered the room. He stood and shook hands with her.

"How was it?"

"Well, apparently, the First Lady over here is actually from Israel, and owns a collection of rare fungi. She plays the harmonica, and has magically sticky palms that let her climb up walls. Need I go on?"

"No, I will talk to her."

Ren stiffened as the woman walked over to her and extended her hand. Ren turned her hand over and searched her palm for any substances coating its surface, or listening devices to be attached to her skin.

"What did I tell you?" Polygraph Guy said. "She's good."

"My name is Rachel Morgan. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ren. May I call you Ren?"

"No. You wouldn't happen to have owned a Japanese sculpture from the thirteenth century? A rearing horse, jade, with inlaid gold?"

"I did, in fact. Would you mind returning it?"

"No can do. Sorry."

Mrs. Morgan smiled. "I would like you to come with me, Ren. You see, you are actually in a school. It goes by the name of the Gallagher Academy. Are you familiar with it?"

"Nope."

"Well, you see, it isn't a normal school. It is a school for spies, female ones in particular. There is in fact a reason we brought you here. Not only is it a spy school, it is also one of the most secure locations in the world. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Including you and your friends."

"So, I get to be locked up in this room, probably for a long time, while Polygraph Dude over there continues to be baffled how I beat his machine. Uh-huh, I don't think so."

"No, no, you misunderstood me. We both know that, given enough time, you could probably escape our facility, and be back in the real world. But we have something you might want." Mrs. Morgan grinned.

"And what would that be?" Ren was honestly puzzled.

"Knowledge. We have the best covert workers in the world here. And every single one has something they could teach you. Science. Field work. Tracking. Hacking. You name it, we've got it. Are you willing to make a deal with us?"

"What's the catch?" There was no such thing as a free lunch, Ren knew.

"Only this. You stay with us, and tell no one about your… infirmity. If you refuse this offer, we lock you up in a maximum security prison full of hard-core convicts who would like nothing better than to beat up an innocent little thief." For such a nice looking woman, she certainly struck a hard bargain.

"Since this is really just blackmail… I guess I accept. One thing, though. If anyone messes with my… infirmity, I will be allowed to do anything in my power to stop them"

"About that… We have to keep everyone from knowing about that. But we can remedy it easily." With that, Mrs. Morgan walked from the room, and a man with two leather straps and a needle entered.

"Now, listen, this won't hurt a bit…" He inserted the needle into the underside of her elbow, and the world fell into black for a second time that day.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cammie Morgan kicked the door shut, and tossed her bags towards her bed. Another school year had started today, and so far, the year had been utterly unthrilling. Bex had waved to her in the hallway, Liz was working with Dr. Fibs, and Macey was… being Macey. That was all she had seen of her friends/roommates.

She was just unpacking her last suitcase when a heavy knock on the door surprised her. Opening it, she saw her three roommates and two burly maintenance guys carrying a bed into their already crowded room.

"Huh? Why's there a bed? Did you break your bed again, Bex? You should probably stick with keeping jujitsu in the dojo, not our room."

"No. Your mom wants to see us ASAP in her office." Scary. Bex actually sounded serious for once.

Cammie moved so the buff guys carrying the bed could go through the doorway. She began walking towards her mother's office, and asked her friends "Any idea why she wants us?"

"Nope. You haven't been seeing… you know, Josh again, have you? Or Zach?"

"Of course not. You know I'm over them."

"Sure."

The rest of the trip was in silence, and Cammie knew that they didn't believe her. Hypocrites.

Knocking on the headmistress's door, it was opened and they were ushered in by Mr. Solomon, who left silently.

Minutes later Rachel Morgan entered and sat in her chair, looking haggard. Black circles lined her eyes, and her usually impeccable hair was pulled back into a hasty ponytail.

"Are we in trouble?" The ever blunt Liz asked, but Mrs. Morgan shook her head.

"No, girls, you've done nothing wrong. I'm just going to cut straight to the chase alright?"

Nodded heads all around.

"Do you know the criminal lord known as Ren? Ever heard of her?" More nodded heads.

"You've also heard how she was recently apprehended and is now in federal custody? Good. Now let me explain something to you. This girl is perfect. She is everything you could ever want in a Gallagher Girl. She already knows nearly everything. Conning, lying, street smarts, martial arts-"

"So? You aren't really thinking of… wait. No, no, no. You can't be thinking of…" Liz trailed off, eyes wide.

"Exactly. I've arranged for her to live here, for two reasons. One, because this is the most secure facility in the country, and two, I am hoping that, with enough time, we can convince the girl known as Ren to give up her criminal ways, and join our sisterhood."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"Ha. Hahahaha. You can't be serious, Mom. Are you? I can't tell."

"I am deadly, serious, Cammie. And there is a reason I called you four to me today. You are to befriend Ren, who will soon be your roommate. I need to know if she plans to escape at any time. Are you willing to do this for me?"

"Sure," Bex said, while Macey said "No way."

"Why not?" The headmistress asked.

"Because she's a criminal! She'll slit our throats in the night, and rob us blind!"

"No she won't. I've met her, and she is not like that at all. Did you know she let herself be caught and tasered to save another girl from capture? She won't hurt you."

"Fine. When does she arrive?"

Mrs. Morgan looked at her watch. "About an hour."

"An-an hour? Thanks for the heads up. We gotta go get ready. Can we leave?"

"Sure, Cammie. Good luck, girls."

The four girls left the room, and leaned against the wall.

"So…"

"What? We've been given an hour to prepare ourselves for a criminal that we have to befriend so we can spy on her and-"

"See Liz? There we go. This is just a mission. A long, difficult mission. Think of it as that, and it'll be so much easier." Cammie sighed, but straightened up. "We have an hour. Let's get to work."

"What is this, Mission Impossible?" Macey asked but followed them back to their room nonetheless.

The next hour was a blur, as the girls set up cameras, microphones, and a bunch of other spy-stuff. They finished tidying their room, and left for lunch. Thank goodness the language was English today.

Cammie didn't even notice her as she walked into the cafeteria. Medium height, brown wavy hair, slight limp. It took a double take for Cammie to realize this wasn't another fifteen-year old girl ready for a new school year. She nudged her friends and pointed to the girl.

They grinned. One thing they could tell right off, she was good. A chameleon like Cammie for starters. Not only that, but she was using all the techniques they had been taught for evasion and blending in. Walked on the sides of her feet, like any good martial artist. But, one problem. She was heading right towards them.

"Hey," she said, settling down on the bench, smoothing her skirt down behind her. "I've heard you're my roommates. I'm Ren."

For the first time, they saw her up close. Darkish brown eyes. Pale skin, with beauty marks freckling her right cheekbone. Normal. Sweet. Friendly.

"Cammie, Macey, Liz, and Bex." Cammie half-smiled, and returned to her watercress sandwich. This was getting awkward, fast.

"Okay, let's cut the crap. I can tell you guys are thinking, _who's the crazy jailbird chick, and when's she gonna murder us? _ But, really, believe me; I don't plan on hurting any of you. Unless you hurt me. So, truce. Before we even start. Deal?" Ren was the picture of innocence.

Smiles and nods all around.

"Now, more importantly. What is this Culture and Assimilation thing? Like, calligraphy and salad forks? If so, I think I'm doomed."

The ice was broken, and they returned to normal, chatting and explaining the ways of the school to Ren. Pleasant, respectful, honest, Cammie couldn't imagine this girl ever conning someone out of their prized possessions. That is, until she saw Ren noting the cameras set up around the school, and calmly flicking the listening bug from her clothes and hair.

Even now, she was putting on a fake façade for them, one of a sweet, innocent child. Even now, she was trying to escape.

**Okay, I'm pretty sure everyone else in the wonderful world of Fanfiction knows this, but what's the difference between a visitor and a hit to a story? I feel so out of it, not knowing.**

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